Patent · US Active

Method and system for high-speed tablet counting and dispensing

US7395841B2 · kind B2 · utility

9Cited by
15References
6Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 16, 2006
Grant dateJul 8, 2008
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 16, 2026

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
  • CPC primaryB65B57/20
  • WIPO fieldHandling
  • WIPO sectorMechanical engineering

Abstract

A medicament tablet dispensing system and method dispenses any selected number of tablets, up to a maximum number, with minimal dispensing delays. During fill operations, a preset number of tablets are counted and stored in dedicated storage compartments. Dispensing operations are performed in response to dispense request commands. The fill operations are performed in a manner independent from the quantity of tablets identified by the dispense request commands. During the dispensing operations for a particular dispense request command, the preset number of tablets are emptied from one or more of the dedicated storage compartments, thereby avoiding delays associated with counting all of the dispensed tablets. Moreover, the fill operations and the dispensing operations may be performed in parallel for high-throughput dispensing applications.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.